Dublin Natural History Society, 4215 



January 17, 1854. — Kobert Callwell. Esq., M. R. I. A., in the chair. 



Donations. 



Presented by James R. Dombrain, Esq., two handsome specimens, male and female, 

 of the red or common squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), which were shot at Avonmore, 

 county of Wicklow; and by the same gentleman, a specimen of the godwit. Mr. 

 Dombrain obtained this bird from a fisherman at the Pigeon-house, who found it 

 nearly drowned, having taken one of the hooks. 



Mr. Ffennel observed that the squirrel was not uncommon in many parts of Ire- 

 land ; at Lough Inagh, in Connemara, it was very numerous. 



Mr. Kinahan psesented two specimens of the wood-mouse, or long-tailed field- 

 mouse (Mus sylvaticus), male and female ; and Mr. R. P. Williams presented a 

 specimen ot the black scoter duck (Oidemia nigra), shot near Sallins. 



Adventitious Roots of Jussicea grandifiora. 

 Professor Allman made some observations on a peculiarity of the adventitious 

 roots of J ussiaea gran di flora, growing in the College Botanic Garden, (Phytol. v. 60). 



Harbour Fish and the formation of Piscinae. 

 Mr. Andrews made some " Remarks on Harbour Fish and on the formation of 

 Piscina?." He said — " I had some time since proposed to give a paper with reference to 

 the harbour fish of the south-west coast of this country, viz., of such as were perma- 

 nent residents in our harbours and estuaries, and of such as visited the harbours 

 during the seasons of spawning. I found, however, from my notes, that it would be a 

 subject of such magnitude that the interest and importance would ill be conveyed 

 within the limits of a paper which the rules of our evening meetings prescribe. In 

 this statement I shall as briefly as possible remark on some of the peculiarities and 

 habits of those fish that are easily obtainable in our harbours throughout the seasons, 

 for the object, not at the present of treating on their economical uses, but of creating 

 an interest in a physiological point of view, by observing in those large glass cisterns 

 or tanks, which may be termed ' piscinae,' the habits, the modes of progression, and 

 the seeking of food which influence marine animals. Most are aware of the great 

 pleasure generally afforded to the visitors during the last year at the Zoological 

 Gardens, London, in the examination of the numerous marine and fresh-water fishes, 

 and of the Chelonia, or tortoises, which were seen in the full beauty and spirit of life 

 in the large crystal cisterns and troughs. In the following I shall allude principally 

 to the smaller kinds, chiefly marine, that would form objects of interest in their inves- 

 tigation, and in many instances may lead to views entirely new, as the absence hitherto 

 of such facilities have led to decisions, and put forward in ichthyological works, too, 

 at variance with physiological facts." Mr. Andrews then went through the classifi- 

 cations of the several genera of our marine fish, and said that among the Percidae, or 

 family of perches, the greater and lesser weevers (Trachinus draco, and T.vipera), 

 were singular in their habits. The latter is most frequently met in sandy inlets, and 

 I have in several cases witnessed the severe effects of its wound. It is well known in 

 Kerry as the sting-fish, and it is surprising that some works on ichthyology still repre- 

 sent the injury to be caused by the dorsal spine ; but my friend Dr. Allman has 

 clearly proved the action to be from the strong opercular spine. It is a pretty fish, 



